


Are You Sure?

by that_is_shocking



Series: Unusual Occurrences [2]
Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Aged-Down Character(s), Aged-Up Character(s), Build-a-family, Creepy Fluff, Family, Horror, Johnny and Taeyong are crazy, Kid Park Jisung, Kidnapping, M/M, Mentioned violence, Minor Character Death, Minor Injuries, Non-Consensual Drug Use, but not, mentioned minor character death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-21
Updated: 2020-03-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 05:40:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,415
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23240098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/that_is_shocking/pseuds/that_is_shocking
Summary: Crashed cars are no joke, and Jeno's out on his own in the middle of god knows where. At least there's a house down there with it's lights on, maybe they'd be willing to help him.(An attempt at Horror by yours truly)
Relationships: Lee Taeyong/Suh Youngho | Johnny, Mentioned Lee Jeno/Na Jaemin/Huang Renjun
Series: Unusual Occurrences [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1670935
Comments: 6
Kudos: 48





	Are You Sure?

The night wasn’t dark. Well, it was, but around the crumpled car, it was illuminated, like a puddle of light. The single street light was dim, just a few feet away from the car, but it still cast light to see by. The car was accordioned around a fence post, the tall piece of wood standing over the vehicle like an executioner. 

The road was an old back road, with one curve in it. There was a fence that ran next to it, with thick fence posts that could be telephone poles, just cut up into tiny little pieces. Then the streetlight, and then three houses. One completely dark and empty looking, one boarded up, and one had a flickering porch light, with a warm but electric glow coming from the windows. 

The road was long, and empty. Nothing driving on it, for miles and miles.

Well... now there was an old car, and the car’s driver. 

“Mother fucker!” The driver hissed, pulling himself from the front seat. Tumbling onto the grass, he stared at the wreck. He would have called himself lucky to be alive, but all he could think of now was how his dad’s car was crumpled up like a ball of paper. 

Down the road, curtains moved in the house with the flickering porch light. 

At the window, a tall man stood, shotgun held loosely in his hands, watching through the window. 

Next to him, a little boy peered out of the window, toy gun held in a similar fashion. 

“Daddy? Is that him?” 

The man at the window looked down briefly at the boy, and then back at the teenager, now kicking the tire of the car. 

“Not sure pumpkin.” He told the boy gruffly, and ruffled his hair. 

The little boy frowned, and looked down at his paw patrol pajamas. His slippers matched his Daddy’s and that was great, but his favorite pair of jammies, the blues clues ones, were in the wash. 

“Where’s my little baby?” A voice called out, in a sing-song tone from the kitchen. 

Both people at the window looked up. 

“I’m right here Mommy.” The boy announced, and a head poked out of the doorway. 

A beautiful young man waltzed into the living room. He got a kiss from the man at the window, before the little boy was scooped up into his arms. 

“Mommy, is that him out there? Is he here?” The boy asked, and the young man’s face darkened a little, before the large smile was springing back onto his features. 

“Maybe, my little bean sprout, but Daddy and I can handle it, little boys like you should be asleep!” 

The boy whined, wiggling a little, before he was put back on the ground. 

“Are you sure?” He asked, as he was escorted up the stairs by the young man, the other with the shotgun remaining at the window. 

“We’re sure pumpkin.” Shotgun called, still looking out the window. 

The little boy turned to the man who was ushering him towards the landing. 

“Mommy are you sure?” 

The young man kissed the boy’s forehead. The upstairs landing was dark, five doors leading off of it. Squatting down, the man the boy called Mommy flicked on a nightlight, to illuminate the hall. 

“I’m sure, now, we just have to trust Mommy and Daddy for a bit, and maybe in the morning, brother will be home!” 

The little boy squealed, and dropped the toy gun. The young man kicked it off to the side, and picked up the boy again, settling him on his hip. 

They passed the first few doors, until the young man was opening one, and stepping inside. 

He turned on another night light, and placed the boy onto the bed in the corner of the room. 

“Now.” He said, sitting on the bed next to the child. “You gotta pinky promise me that you’ll be super duper quiet. Mommy and Daddy have to work a bit, and we can’t have any interruptions. Okay?” 

The little boy yawned, and looked at the man’s outstretched pinky finger. He hooked it with his own, and then snuggled under the covers. 

“I miss brother, Mommy.” He whispered, and the young man sighed. 

“I know you do, pumpkin.” 

Pulling a stuffed dog close to his chest the little boy looked up at the young man. 

“He’ll be back in the morning, right? It won’t be like last time, right Mommy?” 

The young man sighed, and kissed the boy’s forehead. 

“Daddy is gonna try his hardest, but we can’t be sad if this one goes in the pumpkin patch, alright darling? Now, goodnight.” 

The little boy murmured a goodnight back, and the young man stood up, and backed out of the room. 

He closed the door, and stood for a minute on the upstairs landing. 

“I love you forever and ever, Jisung.” He whispered into the wood of the door, and then he walked back downstairs. 

This time he didn’t even shiver as he passed the door closest to the stairs. 

Back in the living room, the man with the shotgun was still looking out the window. 

“My love.” The young man whispered, looping his arms around the man’s chest. He pressed his head into the man’s broad back as the man shifted the shotgun around. 

“My Taeyong, forever and ever.” The man answered. 

Shifting around a little, Taeyong was moved so he could see out the window too. The teenager out by the car, was sitting on the car’s roof, contemplating his phone, and dabbing at a cut on his eyebrow. 

“We need to make a decision.” The man holding Taeyong said, his voice low and rumbly. “Our window of opportunity might be closing.” 

Taeyong hummed, and leaned back into the man’s chest. 

“Is that him, Yongie?” 

Taeyong looked out, and studied the teenager, finally typing something into his phone. 

“Yes.” He whispered, and the grip around him tightened minisculely. 

“Are you sure?” 

“Yes. Johnny I’m sure.” 

Johnny smiled, his teeth glinting in the light from the porch. He flicked a switch next to the window, and the light flickered. 

“Finally.” He breathed. 

  
  


“I’m so fucking fucked.” The teenager whispered. Looking around only drove that home even more. 

The cheap beer he had been drinking earlier at Jaemin’s party had all but disappeared from his system. God how he wished he was still at Jaemin’s party, maybe with Renjun’s hand back down his pants, anywhere but here. 

He still had to call his dad though. Which sucked even more. 

“What the fuck were you thinking, Jen? Huh?” He hissed viciously at himself. “Driving home after all that shit? God it’s like you were asking for it!” 

Surveying the car, he sighed. He had to bite the bullet eventually. 

Pulling out his phone, he scrolled through his contacts, looking for Lee Taeil, somewhere in between all of his friends stupid contact names. 

Finding it, he clicked it and put the phone up to his ear. 

It rang three times, before being booted to voicemail. 

He hung up and looked at his phone. That was odd, Taeil always answered him. He was a good dad, even if he worked late too much. 

Trying again only earned him insta-voicemail. 

He stared incredulously at the cracked screen. Maybe it was damaged when he hit the fence? 

Well, no matter. Better to leave a voicemail over anything else. Maybe he could call someone else, Jungwoo hadn’t drunk a lot, and he had a car… maybe he’d come get Jeno from wherever the fuck he was. 

Taeil’s tinny voicemail message made Jeno’s skin feel prickly, and he sighed. 

_ “Hey! This is Lee Taeil! I’m so sorry I couldn’t make it to my phone in time to take your call! Please leave a message with your name and number so I can get back to you as quickly as possible! Thanks!”  _

Jeno sighed as the automated voice kicked in with the instructions, and then the line was beeping. 

“Um… hey Dad. Listen, before you freak out, I’m okay. I think. I’m okay so far, and that’s what’s important. Like I said though, don’t freak out. I crashed your car, and I’m really really sorry, but it was an accident, and I’m gonna make it up to you. I’ll leave another message later when I find a ride back to town, but if not, I’ll call you in like… thirty minutes. Again, I’m so so so sorry. It’s completely on me and I’ll fix it. I lo-” 

_ “Your message has been recorded! To try this number again press-”  _

Jeno sighed. His head hurt, and his neck hurt. He was definitely going to have a fuck ton of bruises tomorrow. 

He had to figure out who’s fence that was though. 

Looking around proved that only one of the three houses had a light on, and it was the closest one, so maybe they own the fence. 

Maybe they could get him some painkillers too. 

He pushed himself off the roof of the car and staggered to his feet. His vision spun for a second, before it cleared up enough for him to make his way down the road towards the house. 

Taeyong opened the door before the teenager even got the chance to knock. 

Johnny carefully set the shotgun on the couch, before he joined Taeyong at the door. 

“Um.. hi. Do you know whose fence that is?” 

Taeyong feigned a look of surprise. 

“Oh! That’s our fence! But are you alright? Please, come in!” 

Johnny watched as the teenager struggled for a second before he crossed the threshold, and was dragged by Taeyong into the kitchen. 

They always hesitated at that part. Something about the old house telling them to stay away. But he had come in, and that was good. 

So far, everything was going well. 

He closed the door quietly, once Taeyong and the boy were safely in the kitchen, and did up the locks one by one again. 

Once he had flicked the last of the deadbolts, he stepped into the kitchen light. 

Jeno looked around. The kitchen was… ordinary. There was a prickle at the back of his neck that kept telling him that if he looked hard enough, he’d start finding severed heads or something, but the kitchen was just that. An ordinary kitchen. 

There was yellowing linoleum, a rack with three plates next to the sink, and a coffee machine. The fridge hummed softly, and Jeno took in the two drawings stuck onto it by small magnets. 

One had four figures, labeled helpfully as Mommy, Daddy, Sungie, and Hyungie. The other had several pumpkins with faces on them, unlabeled. 

It made Jeno think of his own kitchen, with the cracks in the countertop, and the coffee maker Taeil held onto with the hope that one of these days, someone would be able to fix it. 

This kitchen was so different than his own, so much more of a family’s kitchen. 

“Darling, would you go get me the first aid kit?” A tall man asked as he stepped into the kitchen. Jeno blinked. The man was tall, with wide shoulders. The hair on Jeno’s arms stood up, but before he could do anything, the other man was hurrying out of the kitchen, off into the dark rest of the house. 

The man pulled a chair closer to Jeno, who was sat at the round table in the corner of the room. 

“So, crashed your car, huh.”

Jeno swallowed, and nodded. “It’s not really my car, it’s my dad’s, but he let me borrow it. Probably won’t ever let me borrow it again though.” 

The man laughed, and stuck his hand out to shake. 

“My name’s Johnny. What can I call you Son?” 

Jeno shook the hand quickly, and then tucked his hand back into his hoodie pocket. His sleeve was a little stiff with blood.

“I’m-” Jeno started, but was cut off by a creak in the house. 

Johnny chuckled, and Jeno looked back at him. 

“I’m Jeno.” 

Johnny nodded, like he was approving Jeno’s name. It made Jeno feel a little strange, but then Johnny was speaking again. 

“Did you call anyone? Cops don’t ever come through here, which is why I’m asking.” 

That was strange. 

Jeno shrugged, and then winced at the pull on his sore neck. 

“I tried to call my dad, but he didn’t pick up. I was gonna call one of my friends to come and get me.” 

Johnny nodded. “Good.” 

There was a photo on the fridge, and it drew Jeno’s eyes in. There was Johnny, the other man, and two faces torn out of the picture. That was… odd, but it didn’t set off too many of Jeno’s alarms. One of the missing faces was obviously a child, wearing a batman shirt, and clinging to not-Johnny. The other person with the missing face had a medal around his neck, and a trophy in his arms. 

Swimming… Jeno knew a few kids on the swim team. Jaemin didn’t like water though, and Renjun was a dramatic asshole, so Jeno’s crew didn’t really swim all that much. 

Across the table, Johnny cleared his throat, breaking Jeno out of his musings. 

“It’s good your Dad didn’t pick up. He’ll probably beat you for crashing his car like you did. I wouldn’t ever think of hitting one of my kids, but I can’t say the same for other fathers.” 

Jeno snorted, the motion pulling at his sore neck. 

“Taeil wouldn’t hit me.” 

Johnny raised an eyebrow, and then looked out the kitchen window, above the sink. The wreck of the car still sat against the fencepost. 

“Are you sure?” 

Jeno opened his mouth to retort, but just then the other man came back into the kitchen, toting a huge first aid kit. 

“We need to restock soon Dear. We’ve almost run out.” The young man announced, panting slightly. 

“Of course Taeyong. I’ll go into town soon and get more.” 

The young man- Taeyong- nodded, and selected hydrogen peroxide, and gauze. 

He looked at Jeno, an apology on his features. “This is gonna hurt honey, I’m sorry.” 

Jeno frowned in confusion before he felt the pull at his eyebrow again. He had forgotten about that cut for a brief second. 

“Here, hold my hand, I’ll have Johnny fix you up right in no time!” 

Jeno glanced down at the hand offered by Taeyong, and took it hesitantly. Johnny pushed Jeno’s hair up out of his face with one hand, to examine the cut, before he was drawing away, and pouring the hydrogen peroxide onto a little piece of gauze. 

“Don’t tense up. It’ll hurt more if you do.” He instructed, and Jeno nodded. 

Taeyong squeezed his hand. 

“Just try to forget about the pain! It’s much much easier that way.” He added to Johnny’s instructions. 

Johnny laughed, and gestured to Taeyong to hold Jeno’s head steady with his unoccupied hand. Jeno felt trapped between the two adults, as Johnny brushed his hair up again, and began to dab at the cut. 

Taeyong cooed at him as Jeno hissed at the sting that followed the dabs, but then, cool numbness was all he could feel. 

“That’s just peroxide?” he asked stiffly, still not able to move much. 

Johnny stopped to chuckle. 

“Nah, it’s something I’ve cooked up myself. It’s got the same antibacterial effects as peroxide, but it has pain relief after it too.” 

Jeno frowned, but Johnny tsked at him. 

“Relax kid. This will be over in a second.” 

Jeno forced the frown off his face, and soon enough, Johnny was drawing away from his face, and Taeyong released the back of his head. 

“That was so brave honey!” Taeyong hummed, planting a kiss on Jeno’s forehead. 

Jeno jerked back, and Taeyong’s eyes went wide and panicked. 

“Sorry about that! It’s a mom habit!” He exclaimed, using his sleeve to rub Jeno’s forehead, like he was scrubbing the kiss off. 

Johnny looked at Jeno with a raised eyebrow, almost a little challenging. 

Jeno’s brain stuttered for a second, before he was laughing nervously. 

“No, I’m sorry. It’s just me and my dad at home, so I’m not really used to all of this. It was nothing.” 

Taeyong still had wide eyes, and they darted between Johnny and Jeno for a second. 

“Are you sure dear?” Taeyong asked, and Jeno saw his hands shake for a second before he was looking back up at the man’s face. 

“Yeah, it’s fine. Don’t worry about it.” 

Taeyong’s expression melted into relief, and Jeno sighed.

Johnny hummed, and dug through the kit again, coming out with a butterfly bandage. Jeno held still as Johnny pressed it over the cut, and then he was smiling at Jeno. 

There was a hand on his shoulder, and Jeno felt a little drunk. Maybe now that the adrenaline was wearing off, the alcohol was coming back. 

He blinked, and then everything was fine again. 

“Sweetheart, do you want some tea? Hot Chocolate? Something else?” Taeyong asked, looking into a cabinet. 

Johnny winked at Jeno, and turned towards Taeyong. 

“I’m sure both of us could do with some hot chocolate, if you’ve got some Darling.” 

Jeno felt a grin on his face. This was… kind of nice. Car crash and an angry Taeil later aside, it was nice, being in an ordinary home instead of the ratty apartment that he was used to. He could almost imagine Taeil at the counter instead, and Taeil’s boyfriend Yuta at the fridge. Maybe even Renjun and Jaemin at the table with him. 

“We’ll have to keep an eye on that cut for a few days.” Johnny announced, “don’t want it to get infected or anything. Hurt anywhere else kid?” 

Jeno blinked, and ran a quick mental check. He felt a little sluggish, but that could be the alcohol, the adrenaline, or even the weed Jaemin had been smoking earlier. But other than that, he felt alright.

“I think I might have whiplash, maybe a mild concussion, but other than that, I’m good.” He announced, as Taeyong put a kettle on the old stove, and turned the burner on. It clicked and then caught, the little blue flame lighting up. 

He turned to Jeno and smiled. Taeyong had a lot of teeth, Jeno noticed and filed away. 

“That’s good! That means you’ll get over this pretty quick, right Dear?” 

Jeno turned to Johnny, and nodded. 

Jeno cleared his throat, and looked at Johnny.

“Thank you for helping me, and sorry for hitting your fence.” 

Johnny laughed, loud and a little bit sharp. Jeno blinked, and the man placed a hand on his shoulder. 

“We’ll always help kids out, especially kids like you.” 

Taeyong hummed from the stove, making Jeno turn again. 

“That fence gets more kids than you’d think.” He said, chuckling. Then he sighed. “Darling, it’s not here.” 

Johnny paused, and then huffed. “I’ll go get some more from the shed.” 

Then, he was standing up, and stepping out of the kitchen, back into the unlit house. 

Taeyong pulled three mugs out of the cabinet, Red, Black, and Blue, and smiled at Jeno, who was looking between him, and the empty doorway Johnny had disappeared through. 

“What’s he going to get?” 

Taeyong blinked, and then his smile widened. 

“We make our own marshmallows. There’s another fridge in the shed, we keep extra in there. Keeping them cool helps them from melting too quickly.” 

Jeno frowned, the expression pulling at his bandaged eyebrow, and then he shrugged. 

“I’d have been alright without the marshmallows.” He told Taeyong, leaning onto his elbows to watch the man putter around the stove, gathering things.

Taeyong scoffed. 

Jeno blinked at the harsh sound, frowning a little more. Taeyong’s tense shoulders relaxed, and he turned back to Jeno with a smile. 

“The marshmallows are the best part darling! We can’t have hot chocolate without them!” 

Jeno nodded slowly, and then, somewhere deep in the house, a door opened and closed. 

Johnny returned in a second, carrying an unmarked metal tin. Jeno watched him set it on the counter, and press a kiss onto Taeyong’s temple, before returning to the table. 

“Jeno, how old are you?” Johnny asked, flipping his chair around so he could lean on the chair back and watch Jeno. 

“I’m seventeen, and like a half.” Jeno announced, and Johnny nodded. 

“So you’re a junior in high school? Got any friends?” 

Taeyong dropped something at the counter, and Johnny looked up briefly, frowning. Jeno started to turn around, but Johnny snapped his fingers to get his attention. 

“Come on kid, you a football player? Soccer? Swimming? Or are you more of a computer kid?” 

Jeno shrugged. “I’m not really anything. Never really did sports, or a club. I was thinking of taking boxing though, one of my friends is doing it, and he says it’s fun to get into.” 

Johnny grinned wide. 

“I did boxing in high school! Still got a whole set up in my basement and everything! I’d love to give some pointers if you do choose boxing.” 

Jeno contemplated that, and then nodded. It would be nice to be a little better than Donghyuk at something. 

Johnny smiled wide and ran a hand through his hair. The longer Jeno was in this kitchen, the more the walls seemed to close in on him. He couldn’t tell if it was menacing, or downright amazing, to be surrounded by normalcy, and the weird warmth this set of parents gave off. 

Jeno was lost in thought for a few more moments, before the blue mug was placed down in front of him. The marshmallows floating in it looked like store bought ones, but he’d never made his own so Jeno didn’t really know if that was just the shape that all marshmallows came in. 

“This looks fabulous Dear.” Johnny exclaimed as Taeyong took a seat at the table too, his red mug steaming underneath him. 

Jeno nodded, and raised it up to take a sip. It just tasted… hot. He probably should have waited for it to cool down a little more, but the warm drink felt lovely, after all the stress he had felt from crashing Taeil’s car. 

Johnny and Taeyong watched him wince, and then take another sip. 

“Do you like it?” Taeyong asked, hands wrapped around his own mug, but not drinking. 

Jeno nodded, taking another sip. The slight burn from the heat was weird, and made his mouth feel a little cottony, but it was good hot chocolate. 

Johnny stirred his absently with a spoon, watching Jeno’s face intently. 

Jeno took another sip, the cottony feeling moving to the back of his throat. 

“Are you sure?” Taeyong asked, looking a little worried. 

Jeno wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and looked over at Taeyong. 

“This is amazing. Seriously, thank you.” 

Taeyong smiled wide, and Johnny mirrored it. 

Jeno drank in silence, as they watched him still. Johnny stirring slowly, and Taeyong humming. 

Jeno felt a little floaty, almost like someone had spiked his drink. That had happened to Renjun once, and Renjun had said it felt like he was in water, just floating, but still impossibly heavy at the same time. 

They should compare stories. And Jeno could get this recipe, and make the hot chocolate for him. Maybe Jaemin too, but Jaemin was an ass sometimes. 

Jeno had almost reached the bottom of the mug, drinking in earnest, when there was a sniffle just outside the kitchen door. 

“Mommy?” Someone whimpered, and Jeno looked over for the source. 

A little boy stood in the doorway, clutching a dog stuffed animal by the ear, sniffing. 

“Jisung.” Johnny growled, making the little boy squish against the doorframe even more. “You’re supposed to be in bed.” 

Taeyong tsked at Johnny, and then was up and sweeping the little boy into his arms. 

“Pumpkin!” He cooed, swaying gently. “You promised me you’d stay upstairs and be quiet!” 

Jisung sniffled, and wiped his nose on Taeyong’s shirt. 

“‘M sorry mommy.” He whispered. “I was scared this one was gonna go away too!” 

Jeno looked around, confused. Johnny sighed, and scrubbed his face with the heel of his hand. 

“Honey, you have to listen to mommy and daddy, we’re working and we needed you to be out of the way.” 

“Working?” Jeno asked, feeling a lot dizzier than before. The cotton had spread out to his fingertips and was working through his whole body. 

“I-I just w-wanted to h-help!” Jisung hiccuped, and Johnny huffed, standing up to kiss the little boy on the forehead. 

“We’re pretty much done now, so you can stay, you just have to be super good, okay?” He told the little boy, who nodded, snot coming out of his nose. 

“Wh…” Jeno started, trying to stand up, his feet wouldn’t work, “whass happenin?” 

Johnny turned to put a hand on his shoulder, to keep him in his chair. 

Jeno’s head was spinning. He kept blinking, trying to clear his vision, but it just made it worse and worse. 

Johnny was suddenly in front of Jeno, smiling at him as Jeno’s vision went staticky around the edges. 

“You did really well kid. Made your old man proud, huh.” 

It felt like Jeno weighed one million tons, tied to his chair by nothing except his own nonfunctioning arms and legs. 

He blinked again, and everything lost meaning. 

  
  


Johnny looked at the teenager still sitting at the kitchen table. 

He grinned at Taeyong, who was blinking tears out of his eyes. 

Taeyong hurriedly wiped them away, and smiled at Johnny. 

“I’m so happy!” He said, voice watery. “My family is complete again!” 

Johnny hummed, and kissed Taeyong’s cheek. They were complete again, for now. Who knew if this one would actually stick, or if Johnny was going to have to get his axe out of the shed and dig another hole in Taeyong’s pumpkin patch. 

But yeah. For now, everything was good. 

“Alright my boys! It’s bedtime. Pumpkin, your hyung had a long day, so we’re gonna go to bed this time, right?” 

Johnny put a hand back on Jeno’s shoulder, and Jeno groaned, his head swinging around lazily. 

Jisung puffed out his cheeks, and nodded almost violently. 

“I’ll go to sleep! I’m a good boy!” 

Taeyong cooed, and peppered the child’s face with kisses. 

Johnny sighed, and looked down at the teenager. He looked skinny, but he might be packing some wiry muscle. He could be heavy. Hopefully Johnny wouldn’t throw his back out this time. 

“You got him dear?” Taeyong asked, pausing at the doorway. 

Johnny grunted, and hoisted Jeno up into a fireman’s carry. 

“I got ‘im.” He said gruffly, and Taeyong nodded, only looking at him with a little worry. 

The procession made their way up the stairs. Jisung kept looking back at Johnny and grinning, the gap in his smile from a missing front tooth making it all the more endearing. He was getting a little big to be carried up the stairs, but Taeyong did it like a champ. 

Jeno wasn’t that heavy, slung over Johnny’s shoulders, and Johnny frowned a bit. It’s a good thing Jeno was their son now, instead of whoever had him before. 

_ Fuck them, they didn’t deserve him.  _

“Can I sleep with hyung? I really want to, can I please?” Jisung asked when they finally got to the second floor landing. 

Taeyong was about to hum his dissent, but Johnny interrupted him. 

“Are you sure?” 

Jisung nodded resolutely, and Taeyong opened his mouth. 

“Dear…” He started, but Johnny shushed him. 

“We gotta be quiet. Kid’s asleep.” 

Taeyong looked at Johnny with narrowed eyes, but finally sighed. 

“Alright. I’m gonna put you down Sung so I can open the door for Daddy.” 

Jisung slimed his way out of Taeyong’s hold and clung to Johnny’s leg as Taeyong reached for a key above the third door frame, with it being the landing door, then Jisung’s room, and then the room Taeyong was unlocking. 

He turned the key, and the lock disengaged. Bumping the door open with his hip, Taeyong sighed. His oldest son’s room was back up to tip top shape, it had taken a while after the last one, but it looked brand new. He had even dusted yesterday, so it was even better. 

Taeyong pulled the sheets down, and turned the lamp on. The soft warm light glittered off the swimming trophies, and the CDs stacked on the shelves. 

Johnny dumped Jeno down onto the bed, and knelt down to untie Jeno’s shoelaces. Taeyong accepted the red converse, and made a note of the size. They’ll have to burn all of this stuff that Jeno had on right now, but they could get him more converse, if that’s what he wanted. 

Taeyong wouldn’t make any mistakes this time. He was going to make sure of it, and even if that meant getting fucking converse instead of regular shoes, then his son would get fucking converse. 

Anything to keep his baby here, instead of in the room closest to the landing, or out in the pumpkin patch. He always hated it when Johnny had to put his babies into the pumpkin patch. 

Johnny had started stripping Jeno’s top half, the old carhartt jacket, then the t-shirt. 

Taeyong made notes of their sizes, and then put them into the trash bag Jisung had fetched. 

Ruffling his younger son’s hair briefly, he regarded the jacket. There was a stitched in  _ Moon Taeil _ near the collar, and it sent out a pang of sentimentality, but Taeyong shook his head. 

Checking the pockets brought him a broken phone, a beat up wallet, and a few receipts. 

They were for the same gas station. Taeyong knew it well, owned by that pretty Japanese man. They were all for three slushies, one blue raspberry, one Cherry Cola, and one and one lemon lime. 

Taeyong counted upwards of nine receipts, all the exact same. They had a funny little discount, making them almost free. This kid probably knew the owner somehow. 

“Find anything?” Johnny asked, moving onto Jeno’s socks and jeans. 

Taeyong shrugged. “Wallet, some old receipts, and his phone.” 

Johnny held his hand out and Taeyong passed him the phone. Jeno, pretty much passed out on the bed only in his duckie boxers and his socks made Taeyong giggle. 

He leaned over and pressed a kiss to Jeno’s temple. Taeyong had been hurt a little when his son had leaned away from Taeyong’s affection earlier, but he just didn’t understand yet. Taeyong  _ loved  _ him. All mothers loved their children, and Taeyong was no different. That’s why it hurt so much when Johnny had to take the others to the pumpkin patch. It’s always hard for a mother to bury his children. 

Johnny, unaware of Taeyong’s internal musing, powered up the phone. Underneath the shattered screen protector, there was a wallpaper with a picture of two boys. It looked like Jeno had taken a picture of a polaroid with his phone. Only one of the boys smiled, both squished into a car. 

The boy who wasn’t smiling had his hand outstretched, like he was saying either  _ “Come with us”  _ or  _ “Give me that fucking camera”  _

It made Johnny sigh. More people that were going to miss his kid, who was still unconscious on the bed. 

One text, that was simply a goodnight from a name so covered in emojis that it made Johnny’s brain hurt. 

Taeyong shifted around, and Johnny passed the phone back, it needed to go in the burn bag too. 

Johnny rolled his shoulders as he stepped back, and towards the dresser against the wall. 

He picked out a pajama set, and a new pair of underwear, before Taeyong was shooing Jisung out of the room for a moment. 

“Just give us a little privacy, ok baby? Why don’t you go get your water cup and your blankie? If you’re really going to sleep here tonight.” 

Jisung pouted, but still hurried off, Johnny watched him go before Taeyong was closing the door. 

They stripped the rest of the clothes off of Jeno, and dressed him back in what Johnny had picked out. 

Taeyong dropped the boxers and the socks into the trash bag, and then tied it off. 

He handed it over to Johnny, who leaned down to smooth some hair out of Jeno’s eyes. 

“Pull his blankets up for me?” He asked Taeyong, who was looking down at their new son with eyes brimming with adoration. 

They adjusted the blankets, and Johnny straightened out a trophy, before Taeyong was opening the door for Jisung. 

There was a water bottle clutched in one hand, covered in almost faded stickers, his dog stuffed animal, and a blanket on his shoulders like a cape. 

“Get him settled in.” Johnny instructed, nodding to Jisung. “I’ll go take care of everything else.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Johnny nodded, and Taeyong hummed. 

Taeyong let Johnny kiss his cheek, and then Johnny was out the door, and headed down the stairs. 

Jisung had already wiggled up onto the bed, and into the sheets next to the limp teenager, now dressed in a pajama set. 

Taeyong felt warm and fuzzy, finally being able to tuck in both of his boys at once. He hadn’t gotten to do that in a while. 

“Okay, my little bean, are you ready for bed this time?” Taeyong asked, petting Jisung’s head. 

Jisung nodded, and yawned. He clutched his dog close to him, snuggling in close to Jeno. 

Taeyong cooed, and pulled the blankets up around Jisung and Jeno a little more, before he reached to turn the lamp off. 

Jisung’s tiny hand shot out to his wrist, making Taeyong jump. 

“This one’s not leaving, right?” The little boy whispered, and Taeyong blinked at him, heart pounding. 

Shaking off the weird feeling, he smiled, and leaned down to kiss Jisung’s forehead. 

“He’s not leaving, he’s finally home pumpkin.” 

“Are you sure?” 

Taeyong nodded, and clicked the lamp off. 

The room was dark, but the soft light from the hallway lit it enough for Taeyong to step out to the hallway. 

“Goodnight, my loves.” He whispered as he closed the door, and grabbed the key, to lock it again. See, he really was learning from his past mistakes! 

“You won’t leave me this time.” He breathed into the wood of the door as the deadbolt slid into place. “You’ll never leave me again.”

Inside the room, Jisung studied the softly breathing teenager. A poke from his finger revealed no reaction, so Jisung snuggled closer into his chest. 

“Welcome home.” He whispered, closing his eyes to let sleep take him. 

  
  
  


Jeno awoke with a start.  _ Where the fuck am I? _ He thought, sitting up, and looking around. 

Everything felt foggy. 

_ Where’s Taeil? Where’s Yuta? I want Taeil! Wait… who’s Taeil? And Yuta? _

“Hyungie?” A little voice whispered, and Jeno whipped around. 

There was a tiny little boy sitting on the other side of the bed, rubbing his eyes, and looking at Jeno in confusion. 

Jeno struggled to get out of the sheets, but he felt trapped. He was in clothes he didn’t recognize-  _ no I know these clothes, they’re mineTHEY’RE NOT they are-  _

“Hyungie are you okay?” The little boy asked, scooting closer. Jeno looked around. Something to tell him about where he was, there HAD to be something!

_ No. Everything’s fine. Just a nightmare. _ NO!

Looking out the window, there was a streetlight, shining dimly, and some torn up grass, but nothing else. 

_ There should be something there.  _ His brain whispered, but Jeno couldn’t remember what it was. Was it important?

“Hyungie, it’s okay.” The little boy whispered, crawling into Jeno’s lap. 

_ -Someone in Jeno’s lap earlier, kissing him, hand down his pants, someone behind him, holding a joint and laughing-  _

“It was just a nightmare.” The boy whispered. “Everything’s okay now. You’re okay now.” 

Jeno found himself nodding. 

“Just a nightmare.” He whispered, bringing a hand up to wipe the tears from his cheeks. Why was he crying?

“Wh-what happened?” He asked, finding swollen flesh, and a bandaid on his eyebrow. 

The boy burrowed deeper into his pajama top, the button up shifting like new fabric. 

He touched his face carefully again, and closed his eyes. He was so tired. Everything felt like it was getting consumed by his need for sleep. 

“Just go to sleep.” The boy hummed, “Mommy and Daddy will be here in the morning.” 

Jeno blinked, trying to pull up images of his parents. 

In his mind, a small man, smiling happily at him from a kitchen with cracked counters morphed into a well lit kitchen, with linoleum, and a round table. The table had a blue mug, and the man smiling at him now was tall, and broad. His hair was dark, and so were his eyes. The image of someone smiling at him from behind a gas station’s cash register changed into a thin young man waving at him from a doorway, behind him, dark and ominous. Jeno fought to hold onto the previous memories, for reasons he had NO idea why, but they slipped from his mind like he was trying to hold onto water. 

“Mom… and dad?” He asked, arms coming up to wrap around the boy. He’d given comfort before like this, holding someone, but he couldn’t  _ remember _ . 

“Yes.” The boy said matter of factly, and then looked up at Jeno and started pouting. 

“Please can we go back to sleep?” 

Jeno blinked, and nodded absently. He scooted around, and then they were horizontal, making Jeno’s head swim even more. 

“Go to sleep.” The boy instructed, kissing Jeno’s forehead. 

Jeno blinked again, making his vision swirl. All he could remember was sleep, and feeling tired. 

Nothing else mattered, and he glanced down at the boy, huddled close to his chest. 

“It’s okay?” He asked.  _ Why did he ask that? _

“Of course.” The little boy whispered, pulling a dog out of the blankets, and squeezing it between his and Jeno’s chests. 

“Are you sure?” Jeno asked again.  _ What answer are you looking for?  _

“Yes big brother, I’m sure. Just forget about your nightmare, and go to sleep please.” 

Jeno sagged. Everything felt like it was just out of reach, like he couldn’t quite grasp memories, just feelings, and then he couldn’t even reach those. 

Sleeping… sleeping would make everything better. 

Everything would be fine in the morning anyways. 

So Jeno closed his eyes, and went to sleep. 

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> wassup my good people. It's me, Alex. You probably aren't here from Rivers of Gold, because that's not really a fic of mine that people read, but if you're into the creepy and NCT, go check it out, it's the first work in Unusual Occurrences, which is what I'm calling this series now.  
> Anyways, this fic was inspired by my first legit attempt at original content. If you wanna read the original one, also called "are You Sure" you can find it on Wattpad under my name of Starrkissed3 (I thinkk? i haven't used my wattpad in years) but the fics there if you're interested in the "source material"  
> Yeah, but anyways, let me know what you think! I really like writing creepy stuff, and I tried? So I'd love to hear your feedback. Anything give you chills? Anything you liked? Anything you didn't like? 
> 
> Also... this is the link to the picture that is Jeno's phone wallpaper.  
> https://aminoapps.com/c/nct_dream-1/page/blog/jaemin-and-renjun-friendship-having-fun-and-chilling-im-doing-a-normal-teenager-have-to-do/8r4Z_0qcmujDg1RZzklzr7LR4RZLLjaR8d
> 
> I think it's a cute picture. 
> 
> I've gotta go since I'm writing this at night and am officially tired, but hey! Check out my other fics if you're interested!  
> My insta is @that_is_shocking  
> My tumblr is @that-is-shocking  
> I love you all! Drop a comment, a kudos, and remember to wash your hands!  
> -Alex


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